Mugabe
gives way to PM in Cabinet

FOR the first time since the formation of the Government of
National Unity (GNU) two years ago, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last
week chaired an explosive Cabinet meeting, authoritative sources have
revealed.

Ministers traded insults while discussing issues of
sanctions, diamonds and the political violence that has engulfed the
country, the sources said. It has since been resolved that a special cabinet
meeting be held to address the contentious issues.

The
Tuesday meeting came up with a number of decisions that could indicate
Mugabe’s willingness to make concessions on various outstanding issues in
the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) leader has been a nominal deputy chairperson of the Cabinet
because Mugabe has previously been denying him the chance to chair the
meetings in his absence.

In most cases, Cabinet meetings were
postponed because the 87-year-old leader was not available to chair
them.

“The Prime Minister chaired a heated cabinet meeting on
Tuesday,” said one source who attended the meeting.

“This was
after the President had excused himself and left the room. We were actually
shocked by that development because this has never happened
before.”

The sources said even after Mugabe came back Tsvangirai
continued to chair the meeting.

“I am not sure why he left the
room but Tsvangirai chaired until the meeting was finished,” said another
source. “I think he (Mugabe) might not have been feeling fine or he has
changed his position that the PM does not chair those
meetings.”

Cabinet convened only once this year on Tuesday after
having last met on December 18 before Mugabe took his annual
leave.

A fortnight ago, Mugabe said he could convene meetings twice
per week to make up for the time he was away on
leave.

“The Prime
Minister indeed chaired Cabinet at the request of the President which is not
anomalous because he is deputy to the chair of Cabinet,” said
Tamborinyoka.

“In fact, this is what should happen, especially in
the absence of the President to ensure that Cabinet continues to transact
business of the people.“The absence of one principal must not stop
people’s business from being transacted by this important
body.”

Efforts to get a comment from Mugabe’s spokesperson George
Charamba were fruitless.

Parties
snub Zanu PF sanctions war

ZIMBABWE’S political parties have been unanimous in
rejecting Zanu PF’s much publicised anti-sanctions campaign as a
self-serving measure.

President Robert Mugabe on Wed-nesday
officiated at a mass rally in Harare where a petition to have the European
Union (EU) and United States sanctions targeted at about 200 individuals and
some state- owned companies lifted.

The MDC led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the anti-sanctions campaign was an excuse to
unleash violence on voters ahead of elections expected later this
year.

“If a leopard wants to eat its cubs, it first accuses them of
smelling like a goat,” said MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

“If
it’s the issue of sanctions why are we beating each other? Why are we
forcing people to attend meetings? Why are we terrorising each other in the
villages?”

Chamisa said Zanu PF was good at finding excuses for
problems it was causing and never took responsibility.

His
sentiments were echoed by Welshman Ncube, the leader of the smaller MDC
faction who said Zanu PF was actually working hard to see to it that the
embargo stays.

“Zanu PF needs sanctions,” Ncube said. “Zanu PF’s
strategy is to have the sanctions continue being re-enforced so that they
can beat us up, so that they won’t fully implement the outstanding issues on
the Global Political Agreement.

“Imagine if there were no
sanctions. What would their election campaign be about.”

Gibbs
Kamba-Gotora, who leads a little-known Zimbabwe Organised Political Party
(Zoopp) said Zanu PF was trying to hide behind the sanctions instead of
taking responsibility for its shortcomings.

“Zoopp will not join the
petition frenzy because this action does not answer to dictates of common
sense and understanding,” Gotora said.

Ibbo Mandaza, a political
analyst said Zanu PF was trying to create a campaign platform and would
thrive on the misinformation to confuse the masses.“They are
capitalising on that to exaggerate and create this scenario where they are
blaming everything on the sanctions,” he said. “If the EU and America are to
remove the sanctions Zanu PF would be hard put.”

Zanu PF spokesman
Rugare Gumbo said they would not have taken the pain to launch the petition
if they did not want the sanctions to go.

Anti-sanctions
rally a big setback for traders

INFORMAL traders in Mbare are counting their losses after
they were forced to close shop and attend the launch of Zanu PF’s
anti-sanctions petition on Wednesday.Marauding Zanu PF youths rampaged
through Mbare and Mupedzanhamo markets shepherding the traders to the Glamis
Arena where President Robert Mugabe officiated at the much hyped
rally.

Various reports put the attendance figures at 20 000 but
indications are that many did not go to the venue
voluntarily.

Even in downtown Harare some shops were forced to close
their doors fearing that the excited Zanu PF youths might go on a looting
spree, similar to the destruction that followed their demonstration against
foreign businesspeople last month.

Police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena said the force was not aware that traders were forced to attend
the rally.

“I can confirm that as the police, we are not aware of any
reports concerning the issue of residents who were forced by Zanu PF youths
to attend any rally,” he said.

But several vendors and
small-scale business owners in Mbare said they incurred heavy losses on
Wednesday because of forced closures.

They said the volatile
township, which has become the hotbed of political violence pitting Zanu PF
and MDC-T youths was increasingly becoming hostile to
businesspeople.

Some claimed that Zanu PF had deployed “spies”
especially at Mupedzanhamo who monitored their
activities.

Several vendors at Mbare Musika said they feared they
would not be able to raise rentals for their stalls as a result of the
political disturbances.

“We pay US$38 direct to the council and US$50
when leasing other people’s tables and these disruptions might make it
difficult for us to raise the rentals,” said another vendor who requested
anonymity fearing reprisals.

Vendors at Mupedzanhamo who pay as much
a monthly US$100 per table complained that they were failing to pay their
rent considering that business had been low since last year December because
of violence.

Several workers also reported late to work after public
transporters were diverted to the venue of the rally.

Police
ban MDC-T rallies for fear of Egypt-style protests

POLICE yesterday
allegedly barred the MDC-T from holding meetings in Mashonaland East, West
and Bulawayo provinces saying the security forces were on high alert.The
MDC-T is holding restructuring meetings ahead of its congress expected in
May.

Sources said the police and army were on high alert amid fears
of a repeat of the Egypt and Tunisia uprisings that toppled entrenched
dictatorships.At least 45 activists, including former MDC-T MP Munyaradzi
Gwisai, are in remand prison after they were charged with treason for
watching a video of the North African protests.

Last week planned
demonstrations against President Robert Mu-gabe’s 31-year long rule failed
to take off after a heavy deployment of police and
soldiers.

Lucia Matibenga, an MDC-T executive member who had
travelled to Bulawayo to oversee the province’s restructuring yesterday said
they were forced to disperse after police in riot gear descended on the
venue.

“We have a congress coming and so we are in the middle of
restructuring and because of the Public Order and Security Act (Posa) we
have to seek police clearance and that is why we were holding the meeting
inside our party offices,” she said.

“At about 12 noon two police
officers, Superintendent Fumai and another Superintendent Moyo came to our
offices saying they had been sent by a Chief Superintendent Masina to tell
us to disperse because the country was on high alert.”

Matibenga said
she tried to reason with the officers that the meeting was private to no
avail.

MDC-T
fires salvo at Chihuri

POLICE Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri’s attempts to
blame all the political violence on MDC-T while defending Zanu PF has
re-ignited debate on whether he is fit to occupy the non-partisan
office.

Chihuri last week told MPs that senior MDC-T leaders were
responsible for the political violence rocking the
country.

He singled out Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe
and Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone who he claimed were abusing
their offices.

The top cop’s statements were at variance with
observations from local political parties, NGOs, churches and international
organisations that have accused Zanu PF of perpetrating most of the
violence.

Last month police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Zanu PF
and MDC-T were equally to blame for the violence.

But Chihuri
said no Zanu PF member had been arrested because they had not committed any
crimes.

MDC-T said Chihuri was a “biased, partisan Zanu PF activist
masquerading as a national, professional police chief.”

“For the
record, we find it strange and abhorrent that as a public servant Chihuri
has the audacity to rubbish his own Minister of Home Affairs, Theresa
Makone, and the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe, and accuse
them of causing violence in Zimbabwe today,” MDC-T said in a
statement.

“It is also unbelievable that as the head of the
police force, Chihuri has decided to ignore investigations into the 2008
violence as directed by the Global Political Agreement.”

MDC-T
said facts on the ground showed that Zanu PF militias were responsible for
most of the political murders, assaults and destruction of property.Police
are accused of going after the victims of the violence and giving the Zanu
PF youths immunity from prosecution.

Tsvangirai
moves to end love child saga

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly agreed to an
out of court settlement with the Bulawayo woman who claims the popular
politician fathered her three-month old son.Last week 23-year-old Loreta
Nyathi sensationally claimed that Tsvangirai was neglecting their son named
Ethan.

She was preparing to drag the PM to court to force him to
contribute towards the baby’s upkeep.

It has since emerged that
Tsvangirai moved in swiftly after The Standard broke the story by appointing
prominent Harare lawyer Innocent Chagonda to deal with the
matter.

On Wednesday Nyathi confirmed that Chagonda had communicated
with her lawyer Josphat Tshuma of Webb Low and Barry and indicated that they
wanted to settle the issue amicably.

“Tsvangirai’s lawyers have
made contact with my lawyer and from the information I have received they
want us to have an out of court settlement,” she said.

But later
in the week Nyathi was no longer taking any telephone calls. Tshuma said he
needed permission from Nyathi to comment on the issue.Chagonda refused to
comment on the matter saying he could not discuss the case on the
phone.

He said he would only be available for an appointment this
week.

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka was also not
willing to comment on the matter.

“I have said these folktales
will not divert the Prime Minister’s attention from issues seizing his mind,
which are the need for transparency in the mining of diamonds in Chiadzwa,
state sponsored violence and the salaries for our patriotic civil servants,”
he said.

Tsvangirai and Nyathi allegedly first met in 2009 at the
Churchill Arms Hotel in Bulawayo where they were introduced to each other by
a mutual friend.The two are said to have kept in touch through phone
calls and text messages before they met again in February last year when
Tsvangirai was on a tour to assess the food situation in
Matabeleland.

They reportedly met at the Holiday Inn where they
became intimate and Nyathi claims that is when she fell
pregnant.

Nyathi’s father, Englam, who was a ZBC disc jockey, had
said he did not know about the father of her daughter’s son until The
Standard sought his comment. He said he preferred that the matter be solved
through traditional channels.

Tsvangirai
challenges Mugabe on violence

The chairing
of the Cabinet meeting by Tsvangirai came a week after the MDC leader openly
told Mugabe at a principals’ meeting on February 25 2011 that he would be
held accountable for the violence against citizens by soldiers as he was the
commander-in-chief of Defence Forces.

Documents shown to The Standard
indicate that Tsvangirai told the principals at the meeting that the
deployment of soldiers in rural areas was undermining civil
authority.

The issue of deployment of soldiers has been
discussed in several National Security Council (NSC) meetings but no
solution has been reached.

“The commanders have not furnished the NSC
with reports as legitimately expected nor have they carried out the implied
direction of the NSC to account for and recall to barracks all soldiers that
were deployed under the Maguta programme or AS (Army Special) duties,” reads
the document in part.

Tsvangirai also told Mugabe the security sector
had been undermining the authority of the Prime Minister for the past two
years.

The documents say there has been reluctance from both line
ministries and the service chiefs to accept the new dispensation “coupled
with a deliberate display of disrespect” for the Prime Minister’s
office.

“Instead a trend is discernible where there is an attempt to
create exclusive zones where the military and the security sector are seen
as equal and competing institutions,” says the document.

“The
same observation applies to the conduct of the PSC (Public Service
Commission) chairman Dr (Mariyawanda) Nzuwa who, in contravention of
executive authority of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe continues
to decline effecting appointments to the Prime Minister’s
staff.”

This conduct, says the document, frustrates efforts in terms
of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to have national institutions that
are not partisan.

Tsvangirai also complained that the appointment of
a security advisor and VIP protection to the Prime Minister was being
frustrated through a variety of excuses for the past two
years.

“It is clear that the appointment of the security advisor to
the Prime Minister and that of the VIP protection is provided for under the
Presidential Directive that forms the basis of the CIO (Central Intelligence
Organisation),” said the document. “In all cases it is the President that is
the ultimate authority in the appointment of staff into intelligence
services.”

Government
cracks whip on secessionists

BULAWAYO — Three leaders of the Mthwakazi Liberation Front
(MLF), which is pushing for a separate Matabeleland state, are facing
treason charges following a police swoop on Thursday and
Friday.

Although two of the activists were released on Friday evening
after interrogations, the five including 2002 independent president
candidate Paul Siwela are expected to appear in court on
Tuesday.

MLF officials said the five who include John Gazi, a
prominent war veteran in the city who is the party’s secretary general, were
detained at Bulawayo Central Police station.

Sabelo Ngwenya, the
party’s legal affairs secretary who is based in Johannesburg, said Charles
Gumbo, the MLF deputy secretary for security was the first to be arrested on
Thursday for distributing fliers.

On Friday Nonsikelelo Ncube (deputy
chairperson), Gazi, Ntombizodwa Moyo (deputy information and publicity
officer) and Siwela were picked up.A source said the detectives were mainly
interested in getting access to the party’s documents and information on
some of the party’s leaders based in South Africa.

“This is a
deliberate act of intimidation designed to prevent MLF from campaigning for
secession,” Ngwenya said.

“The regime knows that our people were
coerced into being part of Zimbabwe and as such they see us as a
threat.

“We are going to mobilise people to force the regime to
release all our cadres in detention. We are also going to highlight the same
to the international community.”

MLF was launched in Bulawayo in
December last year and it has been openly campaigning for the secession of
the Matabeleland provinces to create what it calls Mthwakazi
Republic.

Last week, the group formally wrote to President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai demanding the creation of a
separate state citing “continued marginalisation” of Matabeleland.

Is
Gaddafi coming to Zimbabwe?

AS President Robert Mugabe’s staunch ally Muammar Gaddafi
battles to violently halt revolt against his four decade long reign,
questions are being asked if the Libyan leader would become the second
fallen dictator to seek refuge in Zimbabwe.

Former Ethiopian
strongman Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was slapped with the death penalty in
his own country for slaughtering hundreds of people, lives like a king at a
farm in Norton and in Harare’s leafy Gunhill suburb.

United
States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said they were open to
the idea of Gaddafi fleeing to Zimbabwe, in the first indication that such
an option could be on the table.

“I was almost rendered speechless by
the idea of him and Mu-gabe coming together,” Clinton told journalists in
Geneva.

“And if the violence could be ended by his leaving, that
might be a good thing.”

The speculation might not be far-fetched
following claims — although dismissed by Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa
— that Zimbabwe has given Gaddafi military support in the war against his
own people.

Besides, the Gaddafi family is known to already have vast
business interests in Zimbabwe.

In August last year, one of
Gaddafi’s sons, Saadi, who is a former professional footballer, was in the
country ostensibly to scout for business opportunities.

He was
taken to the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam in Masvingo where he reportedly promised to
make a big investment to ensure that the construction of the dam is finally
completed.

Water Resources Development and Management minister Samuel
Sipepa Nkomo yesterday said they had not made a follow up on the
promise.“Basically it was not our initiative,” Nkomo said. “We had gone to
the dam as the parent ministry and Gaddafi’s son was brought by (Tourism
minister) Walter Mzembi. I don’t know what Mzembi will do now considering
developments in Libya.”

Saadi was also taken to Victoria
Falls and according to Mzembi, expressed interest in investing in various
sectors of the economy. He ended his trip by paying a courtesy call on
Mugabe.

Several efforts to reach Mzembi for a comment on the matter
were unsuccessful.

Celebrities and institutions throughout the
world are falling over each other to return money they got from the Gaddafi
regime because of the atrocities.

But Zimbabwe has remained
tightlipped on the Libyan issue even when its neighbours join the rest of
the world in condemning the regime’s excesses.Although a deal between
Mu-gabe and Gaddafi to bring fuel to Zimbabwe collapsed, observers say it is
possible that one of Africa’s longest rulers has other interests in the
country.

A court case, in August last year, where a former ZBC
employee was accused of defrauding the Libyan government of US$4 million
revealed that the Gaddafis might have invested in real estate in the
country.

Stanley Masendo was accused of siphoning the money from a
company known as Crieff Investments, which later changed to Aldawlia
Investments.

The company bought 12 haulage trucks and properties,
which included 10 flats in Harare, which were left under Masendo’s
management.

In 2002 there were also reports that President Mugabe’s
wife Grace had sold her mansion in Borrowdale to Gaddafi.

The
construction of the mansion known as Gracelands had caused controversy amid
allegations that it was built using funds meant for poor civil servants.

Highfield
families ‘live like rats in a hole’

LARGE cracks run through the walls and some bricks are
loosely hanging in their positions.

But an army of children spend
the day criss-crossing the rooms oblivious of the squalor and the danger
posed by the crumbling walls.

Welcome to Geneva Hostels in
Highfield, which were constructed in 1976 and were named after the
conference convened to negotiate Zimbabwe’s independence.

This is
where you find a family of 15 living in one big room partitioned to small
bedrooms to give the married ones some modicum of privacy.

“This
place used to be a dump site and before long, it was graded and these
low-cost houses built at an alarming speed to accommodate many of us who
were still bachelors,” said Chrispen Chiguvare, who has been a resident
since 1976.

“The houses were later handed over to us and we
started paying rent.

“The rule that barred women from these houses
changed when we got married and raised our families here.”

Tired
of the squalor, the Geneva residents recently petitioned the Harare City
Council demanding that the municipality stop charging them rentals. They
also sought council’s help to secure alternative accommodation.

Since
independence, various councils have pledged to provide proper accommodation
for the families but nothing has materialised.

When the hostels were
constructed, a room was allocated to three bachelors who partitioned it to
make small bedrooms. They also shared a small kitchen.

The toilets,
now in a dilapidated state, are outside and are shared by at least three
families each.

“We live like rats in a small hole,” said 61-year-old
Stella Rugonye.

“It was better in the past because children could fit
under the bed but now they are grown up and we have to share one room with
our sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

“It becomes worse
when our daughters visit with their husbands.”

Mbuya Samora (65) said
she and 10 other members of her family, mainly orphaned grandchildren, have
to face different directions when sleeping to fit in their small
bedroom.

“I sleep on the bed with my daughter and two other grand-
children and the rest sleep on the floor,” she said.

“The eldest
of those who sleep on the floor is my 18-year-old grandson and the youngest
is a nine-year-old girl.

“They have to squeeze each other to fit in
the little space left by our property and the girls have to face one
direction and the boys the opposite.”With 15 members, Mavis Bhanire’s
family is one of the biggest.

“I have three daughters-in-law so I
have since moved out of the bedroom so they can share it with their
husbands, my sons,” said the 55-year-old woman.

“I sleep in the
kitchen with my grandchildren and my 19-year-old son who is
unmarried.

“One of the families we share with has eight members
while the other has five.”

The residents want to be exempted from
paying rent as council once condemned the houses as unfit for human
habitation.

Each family is paying US$35 up from US$4 since
dollarisation in 2009.

They also appealed to council and government
to refurbish the houses before they curved in and killed
occupants.

For the past 10 years, the residents have also been
getting water only at night and they would like council to address that and
also attend to the blocked sewer system.

Council spokesman Lesley
Gwindi said he could not comment on the matter as he had not seen the
petition.

Ruling
gives journalists a ray of hope

A Harare magistrate says journalists who are
challenging the constitutionality of Section 31 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act, which has been widely used to arrest media
practitioners have a strong case.The section deals with publication of
statements that “undermine public confidence in law enforcement
agencies.”

Magistrate Don Ndirowei on Monday removed from remand
Nevanji Madanhire, the editor of The Standard, reporter Nqobani Ndlovu and
Alpha Media Holdings representative Loud Ramakgapola after they sought to
challenge the code in the Supreme Court.

“It is this court’s
finding that this application is not merely frivolous or vexatious,”
Ndirowei said.

“There is indeed a question of contravention of the
Declaration of Rights and there is need to refer the question to the Supreme
Court.”

Madanhire and Ndlovu have been appearing before the courts
since November last year on charges of “publishing and communicating false
statements prejudicial to the State” after The Standard ran a story on the
postponement of police promotional examinations.

Through Harare
lawyer Chris Mhike, the three questioned whether or not Sections 31 and 96
of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which they are being
charged under, were consistent with the Constitution of Zimbabwe,
particularly Section 20 which provides for freedom of
expression.

Section 31 of the Act criminalises the publishing or
communicating of false statements prejudicial to the State while Section 96
creates the offence of criminal defamation.

AMH Editor-in-chief
Vincent Kahiya and Zimbabwe Independent editor Constantine Chimakure have a
similar application pending before the Supreme Court.

Police have
routinely used the law to harass journalists and Ndirowei’s ruling would
provide a ray of hope for journalists as the country heads towards a
potentially volatile election period.

Mugabe
to lead push for foreign investment

AT least 300 delegates are expected to attend the
Zimbabwe Investment Conference aimed at luring foreign direct investment
(FDI) into the country.The investment conference, to be held on March 8 and
9, will run under the theme, “The Emerging African Investment
Destination”.

President Robert Mugabe, who last week threatened to
seize foreign-owned companies, will officially open the
event.

It means Mugabe would have to convince the same
investors he was bashing at the launch of Zanu PF’s anti-sanctions campaign
last Wednesday to put their money in Zimbabwe.

Euromoney is a
leading organiser of conferences for cross-border investment and capital
markets for portfolio and direct investors, financial intermediaries,
corporations, governments, banks and financial institutions.

In an
interview on Friday, Economic Planning and Investment Promotion minister
Tapiwa Mashakada said FDI has remained elusive to the country hence the need
to continue canvassing for investment.

“This is an effort to attract
private equity into the country. The country is US$10 billion short in
capital for it to achieve a quick turnaround,” said
Mashakada.

“We have to woo investors in order to complement our own
resources from the fiscus.”

Mashakada said the country stood a
good chance of attracting investment given its rich endowment with natural
resources.

“The country has lots of opportunities to showcase to the
outside world and be able to attract substantial amounts of
investment.

“Local businesses should take advantage of the conference
to network and establish common areas of co-operation,” Mashakada
said.

Some of the topics to be discussed include the country’s
internal political environment, debt relief negotiations and the effect of
external political environment with regards to investment attraction by
Zimbabwe.

Preconditions for exiting the multicurrency system,
incentives put for foreign investors, how competitive the country’s
telecommunications industry is and the challenges of attracting FDI would
also be under the spotlight.

African Development Bank president,
Donald Kaberuka, African Export-Import Bank president, Jean-Louis Ekra and
German ambassador to Zimbabwe Albretch Conze are some of the high level
delegates that would grace the event.

The forum will bring together policymakers, businesspeople,
financiers and key overseas players in a high-level meeting aimed at
highlighting Zimbabwe as a destination for fruitful foreign direct
investment.

Last month a delegation from the London Stock Exchange
described Zimbabwe as an emerging market that provides immense opportunities
for investors across the world but needs to be consistent in its
policies.

“Zimbabwe is providing opportunities above other emerging
markets and we are here to explore the depth of those opportunities,” said
Ibukun Adebayo, the bourse’s head of business development for Africa, Middle
East and South Asia.

From
the Editor's Desk: Zimbabwe’s way forward lies in GPA implimentation

In Tunisia President Zine al-Abidine Ben
Ali took the gap as soon as the people rose against him. He and his family
with their buccaneering love for money raided the central bank and fled to
Saudi Arabia. Their assets in different parts of the world may have been
frozen but they still have quite a considerable loot considering they took
with them US$56 billion in solid gold.

In Egypt,
President Hosni Mubarak took a little longer to surrender. He didn’t skip
the country, only going to the beautiful Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
He and his family were worth US$70 billion. It has been frozen too by
countries in which he had laundered the money through apparently legitimate
investments.

The common thing about the two long-serving dictators
was that they didn’t want to kill their own people. It was a religious thing
and also conformed to international humanitarian standards.

In
Libya, Muammar Gaddafi has gone against the religious norm and has decided
to kill his own people. He has hired mercenaries from neighbouring African
countries and reports indicate he is paying them well. A captured soldier of
fortune is reported to have revealed that he had been promised US$12 000 for
every rebel he killed.

A ship was intercepted in the Mediterranean
last week carrying £100 billion worth of Libyan money to finance his effort
to reclaim the country. His assets in the West have been frozen. He is known
to have property in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The two brother nations have
not yet announced what sanctions they are going to impose on these assets,
if any.

Of these three scenarios which is likely to play out in
Zimbabwe if — which is unlikely at the moment — there is a popular
rising?

I can bet it would be the Libyan fiasco, namely civil war. No
Zimbabwean would want that. Zimbabwe has gone throw civil war before. The
1970s war of liberation was for all intends and purposes a civil war. It was
not simply a war between oppressed blacks and the settler
colonialists.

There were many blacks with interests in Rhodesia
and wished the colonial state to continue. Not only that, for the war to
have lasted that long it meant the Rhodesian government had co-opted a huge
chunk of the black population into its system. It is a fact of history that
the bulk of the Rhodesian military machine was made up of black people, some
of whom like Phillip Chiyangwa are enjoying the fruits of independence
now.

The number of black people who died in that war is still unknown
but guestimates put it at 120 000, mostly black people. Ironically whites
who died during that war are miniscule.

In the early-to-middle
1980s the country once again plunged into civil war as the new black
Zimbabwean regime sought to silence dissent on its road to establishing a
one-party state. The Gukurahundi has now been classified genocide. President
Mugabe himself, who led the onslaught, has described the period in which 20
000 people in Matabeleland and the Midlands perished at the hands of the
North Korean-trained 5 Brigade as a time of madness.That civil war only
ended when the targeted Ndebele population led by nationalist stalwart
Joshua Nkomo surrendered by signing the peace pact that became known as the
Unity Accord in December 1987.

Zimbabweans know that civil war is
very likely in Zimbabwe. The country is too polarised and the March 2008
elections showed that Zimbabwe is split almost 50-50 between those for the
continuation of the Mugabe rule and those who wish for change. So any
popular uprising is likely to meet the same fate as that which is playing
out in Libya at the moment. Mugabe supporters will put up a fight and they
have the advantage of the national arsenal behind them. It is common
knowledge that the military and the police are firmly behind the regime and
they would not hesitate to open fire on unarmed civilians – they have done
so before.

Now to the Ivorian scenario, almost forgotten now because
of events in North Africa; the parallels between the West African country
and ours are a plethora. The most important parallel is the lack of respect
for the people’s will as reflected in national polls. Ivorians went to the
poll in November last year and chose a leader in the name of Alassane
Ouattara. His victory is internationally recognised but the incumbent
president Luarent Gbagbo has refused to hand over power. Now the country has
been plunged into civil war.

A similar scenario played out in
Zimbabwe in 2008 when the losing candidate refused to hand over power. The
period leading to the June 27 presidential run-off election had all the
markings of a civil war. It is estimated that 200 people lost their
lives.

If elections are held this year, the result will be much the
same as those of 2008 – inconclusive and highly divisive. What is likely is
that Zimbabweans will no longer tolerate stolen polls and this may lead to
mayhem and a possible civil war. There are too many angry people roaming the
country and some of them are becoming increasingly more militant. Calls for
secession are getting louder and the possibility of such fringe
organisations as the recently-launched Mthwakazi Liberation Front gaining a
foothold in Matabeleland is high.

So, with the Libyan and Ivorian
scenarios likely to play out in Zimbabwe, what is the way out for the
beautiful country?

It’s simple: the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
has got to work come hell or Good Friday! All its clauses have to be
implemented to the letter and spirit. Negotiators and the principals they
represent should shed away their intransigence. Zimbabweans are now seated
on a razor’s edge: they pine for a change to democracy, which is slightly
different from the so-called “democratic change”.

The time has
come when Zimbabweans should know that “change to democracy” does not
necessarily equate to “regime change”. It is the processes that drive
democracy and the tenets that form its pillars that have been subverted in
this country. If these are re-established, and leadership that lives these
processes and tenets found, then Zimbabwe would be put back on the
rails.

SundayOpinion:
Why the gnu has failed

The government of
national unity has by and large failed the people of Zimbabwe because the
politicians from all parties have been focusing more on political posts for
their leaders and self-aggrandisement as opposed to improvement of the
economy and social lives of Zimbabweans.

The following examples
illustrate this:

From the onset the cabinet was too big. It was meant
to ensure that politicians from all parties benefited from government
resources. Do we really need provincial governors when we have provincial
administrators? These posts should be removed to save money! Surprisingly
both Zanu PF and MDC are fighting for these posts.

Government
expenditure is not being controlled. Look at foreign travels by ministers
and senior civil servants like those in the ministry of Tourism, Finance
etc. Huge allowances are being claimed on every trip. They do not want to
miss any international conference.

Over-expenditure on low priority
areas — When I joined government in 1993 from university in the then
Ministry of Agriculture, our director used to drive a Mazda 323. Senior
officers would benefit from a car loan scheme from CMED. The economy was
performing much better then. Yet today you find the most classy and
expensive vehicles being driven by government officials yet government is
claiming it does not have money to pay civil servants who are earning less
than US$200 per month! Permanent secretaries and principal directors drive
grand Cherokees. Prados, Toyota vigos, mercs and Navaras are all over,
including police, army, CIO and prison services. Government has a penchant
for vehicle models assembled outside Zimbabwe dumping the locally assembled
Mazda vehicles.

Granted this culture of expensive and classy vehicles
was brought by Dr Gideon Gono during the quasi-fiscal operations in false
belief, I hope, that he would motivate civil servants as in private sector,
forgetting that government is funded through taxes, the MDC has also
joined.

Probably the inclusive government’s biggest failure has
been the poor management of the transition from the Zimbabwe dollar to the
multi-currency system. This has crippled the
economy.

Government-provided services are too expensive: passport
fees, import permit charges, vehicle number plates (US$160!) Environmental
Management Agency (EMA) permit to move pit sand (US$250!) TIMB tobacco
registration fee (US$20!) This why farmers failed to register, they could
not afford! The list is endless. Under normal circumstances these are
supposed to be almost free, given that the same organisations and
individuals already pay a form of tax.

No effort was done to
compare service charges with those prevailing in, say 1997, in US dollar
terms or to benchmark with region. Black market rates were simply used
taking advantage of monopoly and legislation. What government forgets is
businesses take these costs when pricing their products and services and we
become an uncompetitive nation, as is the case.

Government must also
understand that citizens do not have endlessly deep pockets. Look at vehicle
taxes toll fee when entering Zim through borders, toll-gate charges, vehicle
licences, a string of fuel levies.

The reason foreign musicians are
flocking into Zimbabwe is not that Zimbabwe is that attractive or that they
like us. The Beenie Mans, Cappletons, Shawn Pauls etc. It is because in
their countries gate charges would be a dollar yet in Zimbabwe they would be
US$15 to US$20. Yes, they know we are crazy, we do not understand and
appreciate the value of the US dollar.

As expected, the donors are
now tired. Our own diasporans can no longer support their relatives home
because US$100 has much lower purchasing power in Zimbabwe.

If a
father misbehaves, the son is likely to misbehave. This is the same
situation with government (father) and local authorities and parastatals
(sons). Some of the highest paying jobs are in local authorities and
parastatals.

Look at the crazy service charges and license fees
of local authorities. How can you have a nation where over 90% of consumers
owe money to public utilities service providers?

Like the father
local authorities are arrogant and do not listen to advice. Through the
blessing of their mayor Muchadeyi Masunda Harare City council has refused to
lower salaries and allowances for senior managers. But chickens are coming
home to roost as council is now failing to pay its workers. Ratepayers
cannot afford the high rates.

The scenario of taking care of council
senior management only at the expense of the common worker is similar to
that of government taking care of senior civil servants and ministers.

SundayComment:
Violence eats perpetrators too

The grisly
photograph of Webster Baipai on the front page of last week’s issue of The
Standard must have sent a chill down the spine of everyone who saw
it.

Baipai — young and handsome with a bright future ahead of him —
must be ruing the day he became a participant in political violence that
left his face spited by the loss of an eye and permanent abrasions. His must
surely be the face of political violence in Zimbabwe
today.

Baipai’s case is interesting in more ways than
one.

He is a Zanu PF activist and probably the first member of the
party whose injuries have been so graphically photographed. This is
important because it must have jolted the minds of that party’s perpetrators
of violence leaving them to ask how far their impunity can
go.

Zanu PF activists have always been shielded by law enforcement
agents when they have indulged in violence. Because of this MDC activists,
who in the past have borne the brunt of Zanu PF violence, have avoided open
retaliation because they have always come out the worse for
it.

Not only have the police perfected the art of transforming the
victims (MDC activists) into perpetrators and detaining them for long
periods, they have also blatantly applied the law
selectively.

This was always going to present problems as victims
became more and more inured to the injustices visited upon them. Driven
against the wall, it is man’s primeval nature to cast away his fear and put
up a fight. This is what Zimbabwe is beginning to witness now as violence
escalates round the country.

The salutary lesson to come from the
Nyanga episode is that when it comes to the crunch each individual is on
his/her own. The people who have been driving the violence — the politicians
— would be miles away in the comfort of their secured homes when the victims
begin to lick their wounds.

People should refuse to be used by these
perverted people as pawns in their debased political games.

An Incorrigible Regime

The events in Cairo, Tunis and the current Libyan
scenes continue to bear testimony to the power of a common cause among a
suppressed and oppressed people. It remains to be seen how the Zanu Pf and
indeed the Mugabe regime will see the ‘writing’ on the wall. Dictators will
try by any means to hang on and maintain their power grip regardless of the
untold suffering to the ordinary citizenry. The Mugabe regime unsurprisingly
remains aloof and defiant despite the continued polarization of the
Zimbabwean political and social environment as a direct result of its acts
of commissions and omissions. An increase in violence, intimidation of
ordinary citizens and arrests of opposition members across Zimbabwe is
clearly an attempt to stifle any voices of dissent in the hope that the
world will focus elsewhere while the Mugabe regime maintains their iron
grip.

Throughout history, Dictators with their rogue regimes almost
always fail to reform and change course-they characteristically wallow in
self aggrandisement and delusional thinking that only their political will
and leadership must be exercised and any such opposition must be silenced if
not crushed. Col Gaddafi in this self belief went to the extent of even
writing ‘The Green Book’ all in a thin veiled quest for some grandiose
charismatic stamp on the politics of Libya. Zanu Pf and Mugabe continue to
believe that the entire nation state of Zimbabwe cannot but survive without
Zanu PF. Clearly the Mugabe and Zanu Pf regime, just like all the dictators,
are more than happy to drag the whole country down with their inevitable
demise. The Ben-Ali and Mubarak regimes had continued to take their citizens
for granted almost appropriating the nation’s resources as if it was their
family fiefdom, Gaddafi and his regime as does the Mugabe regime continue to
bury their heads in sand denying any opportunity for new political ideas and
or leadership for their respective citizens.

While the Mugabe regime
conveniently forgets that it’s the very same masses that were instrumental
in bringing about political change from a rogue regime way back then. Zanu
Pf and the Mugabe regime continue to wallow in the fallacy that these very
same masses will not rise against such misrule. Early 1998 during the food
riots, Zimbabwe’s masses gave a hint to Zanu PF and the Mugabe regime a
clear message that true to a common cause- people will sure rise regardless
of any such threats and or realities of police brutality. While it sounds
acceptable to over patronize ordinary Zimbabweans and describe them as
‘peace-loving’, it is worth remembering that any human being regardless of
nationality, religion or race, when suppressed, oppressed and cornered will
act to defend their livelihoods by any means necessary. A quick glance at
world history and more specifically that of the Zimbabwe’s political
evolution is there for all to note.

Treasonous charges continue to be
made against any notable opposition figures by the Mugabe regime in an
attempt to quell the freedoms of Zimbabwe’s citizens, violence and
intimidation is being meted out on the streets by Zanu Pf militias and state
security agents against opposition members. Opposition officials have to
watch over their shoulders while attempting to perform their day-to day
democratic mandates. It doesn’t come as a surprise that to date opposition
members and its senior officials are being dragged to courts at such a
massive and biased rate and yet no single such actions are being witnessed
among Zanu PF leading violence instigators (militias, legislators and
security agents alike).

Zanu Pf and the Mugabe regime has had over 3
decades to show an inclination towards some political rectitude but as is
with dictatorships, the status quo is always the preferred way and change is
never a natural process but one requiring a radical shift from the
conventional ways.